Mellow Shekhawat meets Vajpayee

Former vice president Bhairon Singh Shekhawat had an hour-long meeting with Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Thursday evening — his first meeting since he expressed his desire to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

Shortly before he drove to Vajpayee’s residence, he said he was going to discuss about Vajpayee’s health. “If Vajpayee gets well, it will good for the country, the BJP and everyone of us.”

In sharp contrast to his January 8 stance, when Shekhawat fired salvos at the BJP and refused to endorse their prime ministerial candidate L.K. Advani, he sounded mellowed, saying he would not contest against Advani for the PM’s post though left himself open to contesting the polls. “As I said earlier, everything depends on my health. I have not been keeping well for the last few months.”

Shekhawat said he enjoyed best of relations with Vajpayee and Advani. Asked if he stood by his earlier remark that he was not consulted on Advani’s projection as prime ministerial candidate, he said, “I am not in BJP. I left it seven years ago. They (BJP leaders) would have consulted one another before announcing his name.”

Though it was not clear whether he was ready to make peace with other BJP leaders yet, Shekhawat said he had sought a probe against former Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje for her government’s alleged acts of corruption.